Just outside the courtroom Trump spoke. As has been standard over the past five weeks, the former president goes after the judge and Joe Biden. “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges,” he says, claiming the trial is rigged, without offering any evidence. “It’s a very disgraceful situation.” He then criticises Robert De Niro for the actor’s comments outside court yesterday.  He describes him as a “broken down fool”.

Mr De Niro said Trump “should not be allowed” to be President of the United States again after turning up outside his criminal hush money trial in New York yesterday. After five weeks of sometimes blockbuster testimony, the trial of Donald Trump is nearing its end, with the jury sent out to begin deliberations. Their task: to decide if the former president is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Donald Trump is on trial in New York, accused of falsifying business records over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels. Jury sent to deliberate. The 12 New Yorkers that make up this jury have been sent to deliberate. They’ll be discussing each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree that have been brought against Donald Trump by the DA. They’ll return and deliver those verdicts if and when they reach a unanimous decision.

‘We’ve received a note’ – The judge says the jury has sent him a note. It was marked by the foreperson of the jury a little over 15 minutes ago.  In the note are four requests, three of which relate to David Pecker’s testimony and one is regarding Michael Cohen. David Pecker’s testimony regarding the phone conversation with Donald Trump while Pecker was in the investor meeting. David Pecker’s testimony regarding life rights for Karen McDougal.

David Pecker’s testimony regarding Trump Tower meeting – Michael Cohen’s testimony regarding Trump Tower meeting – What happens now? Judge Juan Merchan will bring the jurors out for readings of the requested testimony. This could take some time, as the court will need to locate the exact segments of testimony before a reporter can read them to the jury.  Julie Rendelmen, a former prosecutor who is outside the courthouse in Manhattan for us, says she expects this to go beyond today’s session – scheduled to end at 4.30pm US time (9.30pm here).

“Both sides (defence and prosecution) have to literally go through the transcript to make sure they’re taking out all the objections that were sustained so that the court reporter who’s reading it back will only be reading those things that are admissible,” she says . “They also have to go through [the] cross-examination to cover those areas – so it’s going to take time to get it together, then to get it read back.” Jury has rung the bell – The jury has rung the bell and Donald Trump and his team have filed back into court.

This could mean the jury has a question – but could potentially mean they have reached a verdict.  It’s unlikely to be the latter, given the 12 jurors have only been deliberating for three and a half hours. In the courtroom itself, Jason Miller and Stephen Cheung are sitting in the back row – not with the rest of Trump’s team – while Don Jr sits almost directly behind his father in the front row. Others with Trump include Boris Epshteyn, Natalie Harp, Karoline Leavitt, Alina Habba, and Trump friend (and former witness in the civil fraud trial) Steve Witkoff.

In pictures: Demonstrations continue – Pro-Trump supporters continue to demonstrate outside the Manhattan courtroom. Counter-protestors are similarly camped outside and are calling for a criminal conviction for the former president. Explained: What happens now – After 22 days, the jury has been sent to begin deliberations. They’ve got 34 charges of falsifying business records in the first degree against Donald Trump to address. So what happens now?

When will we get a verdict? Deliberations have begun – and the jury could reach verdicts at any point after that. Court will adjourn at 4.30pm local time (9.30pm in the UK), at which stage the judge will discuss next steps. Where will Trump be while they deliberate? Trump and his lawyers will remain in the courthouse and will be waiting in an empty courtroom down the hall. They’ll be remaining there until the jury returns. What will happen when they read the verdict? We initially expected a clerk to read the verdicts, but Judge Merchan’s instructions seemed to indicate that the jury’s foreperson will actually do this. Getting through 34 counts could take less than three minutes. What are the verdicts?

• Guilty – It only takes a guilty verdict on one count for Trump to receive a criminal conviction.
• Not guilty- To be acquitted, the jury must decide that Trump is not guilty on all counts.
• Mistrial- If one juror disagrees with the other 11, the judge would have to declare a mistrial, and the DA would have to decide whether to retry the case.
• Hung jury- If the jury can’t reach an agreement on the verdict, a hung jury can be declared. A retrial could be held in this case. When would Trump be sentenced if he was found guilty? If guilty, sentencing will come 4-6 weeks after the verdict. He faces up to four years in prison, although legal experts expect the former president to avoid jail time. Judge moves to verdicts as instructions wrap up –

We’re close to wrapping up these instructions now as Judge Juan Merchan moves to the verdicts. “You should discuss the evidence and consult with each other… listen to each other,” he tells the jury. He reminds them any decision reached must be unanimous “and when you deliberate, you should do so with a view towards reaching an agreement if that can be done without surrendering individual judgment”. “You should not surrender an honest view of the evidence simply because you want the trial to end.”

Once decisions have been reached, the full jury will return and the foreperson will then be asked for the verdict on each of the charged counts. He reminds the 12 jurors they cannot leave the jury room during deliberations, and they must hand in any mobile phones. The plan, he says, is for the jury to deliberate until 4.30pm local time (9.30pm in the UK), and a schedule will be figured out if they require more time. He says his instructions are over and calls a bench meeting.

Courtesy: Sky News